And one-twelfth to charles j



H. E. MAY;

l GAS ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, I916.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' H. E. MAY.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2!. I916.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PA 1;:

HARRY E. MAY, F SEDALIA, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO HOLMES HALL, ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM D. OBANN ON, AND ONE-TWELFTI-I T0 WILLIAM M. MAY, ALL OF SEDALIA, MISSOURI, AND ON E-TWELFTH T0 CHARLES J McENIRY.

GAS-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

Application filed February 21,1916. Serial No. 79,592.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, HARRY E. MAY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Sedalia, county of Pettis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in gas engines and more particularly to the type in which the intake and exhaust of the gas is controlled by a rotary cylindrical valve Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a construction which eliminates all the objectionable features of the pup 'iet-valve, and in which the rotary valve member takes the form of a cylinder mounted above the piston chamber and rotating in timed relation with the crankshaft; to provide a, construction in which the rotating valve member is preferably of less diameter than the piston chamber which has among other advantages that of securing increased compression; to provide a construction in which the rotary valve memher is so arranged as to avoid any frictional contact with either the cylinder wall of the piston chamber or the piston itself, to provide a construction in which the port of the rotating valve members registers through a considerable portion of its rotation with the inlet and exhaust ports of the engine; to provide in a construction of the character referred to and as a special feature of the invention improved means for lubricating the rotating parts; to provide a construction of the character last referred to in which provision is made for returning surplus lubricant to the crank casing of the engine and in general to provide a simple and improved construction of the character referred to.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my engine, the parts being broken away and shown in section to show interior construction.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on lines 22 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows, parts being omitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on lines 33 of Fig. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

ing of the halves of the ring.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the Fig. 3 with parts broken away.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the rotary valve member on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of the ring used at the bottom of the valve,

Referring to the drawings; 1 designates the crank case provided with crankshaft 2, fly wheel 3 and piston rods 4. Above the crank case is mounted the main cylinder casting 5 which is divided in the present instance into four cylinder chambers 6, 6. These chambers are water-jacketed as shown at 7. In each. cylinder is mounted the reciprocating cylinder 8 connected with the piston rod as shown at 9. At the upper end of eachcylinder chamber is formed a valve chamber 10 which is open at either end but is provided at its lower end wit-h an annular shoulder 11. Each valve chamber 10 is provided with an inlet port 12 and exhaust port 13. The gas enters the intake ports through the intake manifold 14 and is exhausted through the outlet manifold 15. Describing now the rotary valve member proper it comprises a hollow cylindrical member 16 provided at its upper end with a hollow stem 17. The valve member 16 is provided with a vertically extending port 18 of the size shown in the drawings. The face of the valve member adjacent the port is provided with vertical scores 19 and horizontal scores 20 for purposes of lubrication. This scoring is so arranged as to hold the surplus lubricant to prevent it from entering the port. Between the lower end of this valve member and the shoulder 11 heretofore described is preferably interposed a split ring 21. This ring is an adjusting ring used to assist in holding the compres- Sion and to prevent the oil from flowing into the cylinder, The ring is so constructed that it will compensate for wear on the valve. It will also be noted that the ring is so arranged that the greater the pressure the tighter the ring holds due to the slop- The angle of such slope could be varied as desired.

End thrust against the rotary valve member is taken care of by ball-bearings 22 and 23. The bearings 22 are held between the top wall 24 of the valve and a plate 25 which the stem 17 Describing now the manner in which the rotary valves are driven each gear member 27 meshes with worm gears 29 carried by a shaft 30. The shaft30 is mounted in suitable bearings 31 and is provided at one end with a bevel gear 32. This bevel gear 32 meshes with a similar bevel gear 33 carried in the upper end of a vertical shaft 34 mounted in bearings 35 and" 36. On the lower end of the shaft 34 is a bevel gear 37 meshing with a bevel gear 38 mounted on the crankshaft 2.

The arrangement just described is such that the rotary valve members rotate in timed relation to the crankshaft. The cylinder ports are preferably of the same length as the valve ports but are relatively much wider. Accordingly the inlet and exhaust valves will each be opened through eighty degrees of travel of the rotary valve member. This provides for a maximum inlet and exhaust port area. I

Referring now to the manner of lubricating the operating parts which forms one feature of the present invention, on the main casing is provided a suitable pump chamber 39 in which is mounted a mechanical oiler or pump 40 of well lmown construction. This oiler is driven by a gear 41 mounted on the shaft 34. The oil is delivered as follows: The oil passes first through a main supply pipe or duct 42 to a branch extension 43. From the header 43 oil is delivered to the gear chambers through pipes 44, one for each cylinder. Oil or other suitable lubricant is delivered to the respective valve members through branch pipes 45, each of which is provided with a pair of delivery pipes 46 and 47 which extend through suitable apertures in the valve casing chamber as shown clearly in Fig. 3. It will be noted that each of these pipes 46 and 47 extend through pipes 48 and 49 respectively, the

inner ends of which are also mounted in the wall of the'valve casing. These pipes 48 and 49 are connected at their outer ends to main discharge trunks or conduits 50, the lower end of 'which extend into the crank casing ,as shown at 51. The upper end of each conduit is connected as shown at 52 to a gear chamber. It will be seen from the foregoing that oil is delivered under regulated pressure to the various operating parts as desired and that anysurplus oil finds its way back into the crank casmg. I have found that this method of lubrication produces effective and desirable results and in an economical manner.

HARRY E. MAY. 

